NEW DELHI: A new controversial video which could spell trouble for the Aam Aadmi Party is doing the rounds on social media.

In the video, which surfaced on Tuesday, AAP leader Shazia Ilmi said that Muslims' votes split as they were "too secular" and they "should become communal" and vote keeping in mind "our own interest".

"Don't be much secular. Muslims are too secular and they should become communal. They are not communal and do not vote for themselves. Arvind Kejriwal is ours. Muslims have remained secular for long...have voted for the Congress and helped them win. Don't be so secular and look at your house (community) this time.

"Other parties have their votebank intact and Muslim votes split. This is a controversial statement, but we should look at our own interest," Ilmi, AAP candidate from Ghaziabad, said in the video, in which she is having a conversation with members of the Muslim community.

The Arvind Kejriwal-headed Aam Aadmi party(AAP) ticked Ilmi off and distanced itself from the controversial remarks, saying it does not endorse her views. However, Ilmi stood by her comments, which, she said is "play of words".

The AAP said it does not believe in this kind of politics nor does it endorse it.

"All our representatives should be careful in their choice of words so that there is no scope for misinterpretation," the AAP said in a message posted on its twitter handle.

"I've seen Shazia's clip. She should have not said it. AAP does not believe in communal politics. Our politics is to unite all Indians," party leader Manish Sisodia tweeted.

With her remarks triggering a controversy, Ilmi said she had not made any remark that incited hatred.

"I stand by it. I said, we should think of our community first. When others are not secular then why should we be secular. It is play of words," she told TV channels.

"I said it half sarcastically. Somebody was saying Muslims are very communal. I am saying Muslims are not communal, infact they are very secular. They need to be communal. This does not mean to incite hatred. They must think of themselves and must not be political slaves.

"What have the political parties done for Muslims in terms of political empowerment and representation in either government or private jobs, education... in terms of economic and political opportunities," she told TV channels.

"I was essentially saying when you cast a vote you want to better your lot. Think of yourself...you cannot be scared of Modi and RSS all the time," she added.
I've seen Shazia's clip. She should have not said it. AAP does not believe in communal politics. Our politics is to unite all Indians.

â€” Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) April 22, 2014

Netizens too, took to Twitter to condemn the video.

Here are some reactions:
Shazia Ilmi has to employ the most cutting-edge U-Turn technology to come of this jam.

â€” IndiaSpeaks (@IndiaSpeaksPR) April 22, 2014

Sad that @shaziailmi disappoints yet again. There's no room for double speak in someone who claims to be a revolutionary, @AamAadmiParty.

â€” à¤°anvià¤°_ à¤¡hoà¤°eà¤¯_ (@RanvirShorey) April 22, 2014

Shazia Ilmi was talking about community and she was not being communal, just as Togadia was talking about laws and not being a lout.

I like Shazia Ilmi, not only because she brings cheer to the eye, but also for her articulate views spoken in a very musical way. I also like Aashifa Khan, the BJP spokeswoman from Gujarat for the same reason.

That is why I am sad that Ilmi could appear to be communal just for winning some votes in an election.

She could have avoided all this.

It also indicates the alienation to the Muslim community from the mainstream of Indian politics, where communal unity takes precedence over the ills of India that affect not only the Muslims, but all communities across the board.

kejriwal,ilmi, kumar vishwas all are opportunist
eg. Ilmi was reporter and wrote goodie goodie about kejriwal and aap and later she joined it and this is dirty politics of aap she need a punch of balasaheb thakre to keep quite on such issue but sadly he is not alive

Muslims may be a minority country-wide â€“ they constitute 13.4 percent of Indiaâ€™s 1.2 billion people â€“ but they are a majority in the state of Jammu and in Kashmir, and account for roughly a fourth of the population in Assam, West Bengal and Kerala. In the electorally crucial state of Uttar Pradesh â€“ which alone accounts for a fifth of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, Indiaâ€™s lower house of parliament â€“ Muslims constitute 18 percent of the population.

According to pollster and C-Voter editor Yashwant Deshmukh, of the 543 constituencies that will go to the polls in the coming weeks, Muslims constitute more than 30 percent of the population in 35 constituencies, 21-30 percent in 38, 11-20 percent in another 145, and fewer than 10 percent in 325 constituencies.

The impact the Muslim vote has on election results is more complex than these figures would suggest.

According to Deshmukh, in constituencies where Muslims constitute more than 20 percent of the population â€“ roughly 70 seats â€“ the Muslim vote is â€œdecisive,â€ but it sets off a â€œcounter-polarization of Hindu votesâ€ that â€œwill help BJP in any election divided on communal lines.â€ It is in constituencies where Muslims constitute around 10 percent of the population that the Muslim vote is â€œenough to become a deciding factor in who they will vote for but not enough to trigger a counter-polarization towards BJP among Hindu voters.â€

This means that in 150-odd seats Muslims can determine the result.

But for this to happen, Muslims will have to vote together in each of these 150 constituencies.

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Imagine India will over take Indonesia as the world's biggest Muslim country by 202X

It's the 21st century, nations are debating how to get on different planets and travel the intergalactic space but India is busy in secularism-communalism...

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india needs my politics of my style..step1-eleminate all Indian Oligarchs
step2-dismental the family
step3-kill all journalists working for foreign agenda
step4-expand oil assets
step5-invade all small neighbors/enter in to alliance with them
step6-peace...........

they do talk about it...some time ago elon musk was in a congressional hearing with the US congress about some issues related to space travels

also what i gave was just one example, in the US politicians discuss and debate about IT policies, enterpreneurs, etc .

However many of them are morons and still debate whether evolution should be taught in schools or not but they have a balance, in india mostly
politicians talk about crappy issues

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In India we do not even discuss foreign policy to the extent that other developed countries do. After 60 years of independence we are still battling with hunger, malnutrition and unemployment. We need to debate these issues and solve them before talking about inter-stellar space travelling.

Developed nations have the 'vela' time to discuss about space exploration in the parliament. We do contribute in our own way, but we cannot have it as an election agenda, as there are more important things to worry about.

PS: RaGa did try to speak about the escape velocity of Jupiter. See what happened . Lets leave space exploration discussions to the experts in the field and leave it out of politics.

In India we do not even discuss foreign policy to the extent that other developed countries do. After 60 years of independence we are still battling with hunger, malnutrition and unemployment. We need to debate these issues and solve them before talking about inter-stellar space travelling.

Developed nations have the 'vela' time to discuss about space exploration in the parliament. We do contribute in our own way, but we cannot have it as an election agenda, as there are more important things to worry about.

PS: RaGa did try to speak about the escape velocity of Jupiter. See what happened . Lets leave space exploration discussions to the experts in the field and leave it out of politics.

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that was my point, that we have been left so behind that when we are discussing secularism (and yet to discuss development,malnutrition etc) other nations are already onto inter galactic travel